Chapter 486 - Go And Solve The Case (1/2)

Chapter 486 Go And Solve The Case

It was already dusk when the carriage arrived at the crime scene.

Gregson had left two men to keep an eye on the corpse. To disparage curious onlookers, they covered the poor child with a blanket they obtained from the boatman. It was the least they could do to show some respect to the unfortunate victim. The three got out of the carriage, and Gregson noticed that a reporter-like guy was already among the crowd, messing around with his giant camera. “These guys are like fleas. No matter what I do, I can never get rid of them,” Gregson muttered. Clearly, he was upset by what he saw. Up until now, authorities failed to find a single clue to crack the case. Perhaps they could employ the powers of the press to seek the victim’s family. Having that thought in mind, he walked over to the reporter.

Holmes, on the other hand, didn’t rush to lift the blanket. He first chatted with the policeman who found the body and then wandered around for a while before slowly and gingerly walking toward it. Zhang Heng covered his nose as he examined the corpse. During that era, the River Thames smelled horrible. Before the turn of the 19th century, the water here was clear, and schools of fish and shrimps thrived in its waters. However, along with the Industrial Revolution came the city’s expansion, and the river saw ma.s.sive numbers of factories getting erected beside it. Every inch of industrial waste and domestic sewage found its way into the poor river. The once spotless River Thames began to deteriorate drastically. With mountains of trash and excrement choking up the waterway, the river was now a veritable stinking ditch.

The government was aware of this problem, coming up with a system to filter the sewage underground sewage system and sewers connected to the River Thames to transfer as much waste as possible downstream. Admittedly, and thankfully, the method achieved desirable results in the end.

Zhang Heng looked at the corpse for a while, and like Gregson, he saw very little. Holmes was right. He might have exemplary observation skills, but sufficient knowledge would be needed to support his deduction. Besides the fact that Zhang Heng knew very little about England’s criminal cases, he also didn’t know much about the Victorian era. Whatever he knew about the city came from books he read and movies he watched. At most, he watched a BBC doc.u.mentary or two about this period.

As a bystander, this knowledge might be enough for him to deal with the people around him. However, it was not nearly enough to solve cases. For example, Holmes could judge the brand and origin of cigarettes a person smoked from the soot on the clothes or the ground. Zhang Heng might also notice these little details that ordinary people failed to notice, but he had no idea what cigarette brands existed in this era. If he got stuck at this step, continuing with the next phase of the deduction would almost be impossible.

Zhang Heng soon realized that the primary mission wasn’t going to be easy to compete. He had to compete against Holmes. And clearly, the time and place did not favor him. This round might seem safe compared to all the other games he’d completed so far, but it was also true that this had to be the most difficult round he’d experienced so far.

Fortunately, enough time was given to complete the quest.

Holmes squatted down and examined the corpse closely. He whipped out a magnifying gla.s.s to further examine the child’s palms and hair as he went along. He even went as far as sc.r.a.ping the remnants under her fingernails. At this point, he no longer looked like a sloth but more like a well-groomed hunting dog. In the end, he got so close to the corpse he almost laid upon her. He stared intently at her face, and his gaze moved downward slowly. Finally, he paused for a moment when he reached the neck.

Then, he stood up, dusted his coat, and asked Zhang Heng, “What do you see?”

“Well, it should be murder. The victim is a female, 15-16 years old. She seemed to be a little weak. Perhaps an illness of some sort? The cause of death cannot be drowning because she has been hit on the head. Besides…” Zhang Heng paused. “The victim was probably violated before her death.”

“Not bad,” Holmes smiled. “You are not a forensic doctor, but impressive how you pointed out all these details. Take your time.”